Western Victoria Quarter Part 5: Progress and Followup
Following up from:
- VQ Part 1: Introduction
- VQ Part 2: Cook Street and Motorway Severance
- VQ Part 3: Vehicle Prioritisation and Pedestrian Design Failures
- VQ Part 4: Pedestrian Hostile Intersection Design.
Western Victoria Quarter Part 5a: Some Progress
I raised a petition to start with, that was taken to the planning committee and sent to Central Government. Nothing happened and no formal response was received. Phil Goff said it was AT’s problem.
Regardless, early in 2018 I was contacted regarding a project in this area, and I met with the Engineer from Auckland Transport who walked through the proposal (on site). It was very exciting to see what was proposed, a lot of big wins in the area. This led to some high level designs which I discussed with Max from Bike Auckland to get some great feedback on, and finally some detailed designs.
The proposal is on Auckland Transport’s Website here
TLDR; Bike Auckland did a nice write up here with lots of images of the proposal.
Wins include (Well, in about 6 more months will include- the costs ticked over a certain threshold and now are going through a business case approval):
A Cycleway
- A bike lane connecting the Nelson Street cycling and Victoria park (and future cycle lanes on Franklin and Victoria)
- Bidirectional from Victoria to Morton, before splitting onto each side of the road
Pedestrian Crossings
- Five additional (Painted) pedestrian crossings, three of which are raised tables (and one including a bicycle crossing)
- The conversion of an existing raised table into a pedestrian crossing
- A safe crossing on Cook Street
Cook Street
- A reduction in in the number of lanes on Cook Street
- The removal of the “slip lane” from Union onto Cook;
- Removing a direct rat running route from Union North to Union South, now requiring a dog leg, and giving way when entering Cook Street, as well as crossing two raised table pedestrian crossings (I’m not sure this will be enough to deter rat running, but will reduce their speeds and keep large trucks from using the road)
- Reducing the number of entry points at the motorway offramp from four down to three
- Replaced with a cycleway
- Narrowing the lanes at the motorway offramp to align to a future 30kph speed limit on the road
- reducing the motorway offramp to a single lane
- A signalised pedestrian crossing at Morton Street, including bike crossings
Improvements to the intersection at Union and Drake
- Kerb buildouts on the mouth of Drake street to narrow crossing distance and reduced vehicle speeds
- a pedestrian refuge to further narrow the mouth and to provide a safer crossing
Improvements to the intersection at Sale and Union/Cook
- As part of the realignment of Union Street towards Sale Street, a proper intersection is formed where they meet
- A pedestrian crossing and give way are included, reducing vehicle speeds and giving pedestrians priority
What is missing?
So that is all very positive, but it only addresses some of the issues, with the following outstanding:
Sale and Wellesley Street Intersection
- A tactical intersection change was proposed for Sale/Wellesley based on a seperate image I proposed to the Auckland Design Office (not part of the project above), involving buildouts and lane reduction
- AT took it over when they were reviewing it, but accepted the issues and assured that it would be fast tracked
- Due to how long AT has now taken, a tactical intervention will be put in while the final (fully signalised) solution is consulted on and implemented in advance of the whole Wellesley Street upgrade.
Drake and Vernon Street Intersection
- This will likely (hopefully) get resolved when the Wellesley Street bus upgrade happens
Vast amounts of parking
- Still waiting on someone todo literally anything about on street, but no hopes there really
- Hoping that one day City Works Depot gets developed
- Les Mills is currently constructing a multi story car park on Wellesley Street…..
General state and compliance of footpaths in the wider area (including Cook Street)
- Nothing at all
This brings us to todays story, aka:
Western Victoria Quarter Part 5b: The Ticketing
As noted above, nothing at all has happened to address any of the footpath issues raised. The Cook Street project mentioned above does not include any footpath renewals. This has endlessly frustrated me, and I’ve been meaning to (politely) bombard AT with tickets to get official responses on each issue. Either progress is made, or I have a clear “AT refuses to follow ATs own standards for footpaths” to take to the Local Board, Planning Comittee, ACCAB etc.
So today I did that. I will revisit this post with ticket numbers and response timeframes
All tickets raised (Friday) 4 January 2019 and are reproduced verbatim below (with attached images)
| Issue | Name | Ticket | Status | Status Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pram Ramp (Vernon) | CAS-945396-D2W8B2 | Update Expected Late May | 14 February 2019 |
| 2 | Pram Ramp (Centre) | CAS-945397-F0D3C5 | An update “by May” | 15 February 2019 |
| 3 | Sale/City Works | CAS-945400-H5B5T5 | Reference Generated | 5 January 2019 |
| 4 | Adelaide Footpath Missing | CAS-945410-W2H6S3 | Reference Generated | 5 January 2019 |
| 5 | Vernon Compliance | CAS-945412-G8Y7N2 | Added to the New Footpath Candidate List | 7 February 2019 |
| 6 | Centre Compliance | CAS-945413-B0F3M7 | Added to the New Footpath Candidate List | 7 February 2019 |
| 7 | Adelaide Compliance | CAS-945414-M7F3N9 | Added to the New Footpath Candidate List | 7 February 2019 |
| 8 | Cook Footpaths | CAS-945415-K0K1Z7 | Reference Generated | 5 January 2019 |
1: Missing Pram Ramps at Vernon Street/Sale Street Intersection
CAS-945396-D2W8B2
The footpath to road transition does not have a ramp in line with ATCOP, meaning wheelchair users, prams and others with physical disabilities struggle to cross this intersection.
As the area becomes filled with more residents and businesses, these basic walking compliance fixes must be given priority to ensure that the homes and businesses here are accessible to all Aucklanders.
2: Missing Pram Ramps at Centre Street/Sale Street Intersection
CAS-945400-H5B5T5
The footpath to road transition does not have a ramp in line with ATCOP, meaning wheelchair users, prams and others with physical disabilities struggle to cross this intersection.
As the area becomes filled with more residents and businesses, these basic walking compliance fixes must be given priority to ensure that the homes and businesses here are accessible to all Aucklanders.
3: Multiple issues at Sale Street Entrance to City Works Depot
CAS-945400-H5B5T5
The entrance to the City Works depot parking lot from from Sale Street is dangerous for pedestrians in its current configuration and impossible to cross - the footpath to road transition does not have a ramp in line with ATCOP, meaning wheelchair users, prams and others with physical disabilities struggle to cross this intersection. This is shown in the attached photo - the only possible route is around (into the road…), and then entering the footpath again through a driveway. This is not acceptable when we are spending millions elsewhere in the city on pedestrian priority, but cannot find any interest in the more basic needs of people.
Additionally, while it is a driveway to private land from the road, it is designed to appear as a road (or has never been brought up to compliance to current standards since its inception as the original City Works site). Being a driveway, pedestrians have right of way across the face, but the design, combined with the high volume of traffic into and out of the parking lot, creates a dangerous situation:
Vehicles treat it as a road and do not give way to pedestrians. If a pedestrian attempts to assert their rights, they are likely to be hit and injured or killed, due to the high speed of vehicles on Sale Street (due to its extreme wideness).
As the area becomes filled with more residents and businesses, these basic walking compliance fixes must be given priority to ensure that the homes and businesses here are accessible to all Aucklanders.
Both issues will be rectified if the footpath is reinstated appropriately and that is the request of this ticket.
4: Missing Footpath on Adelaide Street
CAS-945410-W2H6S3
There is no footpath for a long section of Adelaide Street. The opposite side if the street features a footpath with camber, furniture and regular blocking (from vehicles and wheelie bins) resulting in a space too narrow to walk along for a fit adult, and impossible to navigate with in a wheelchair, with a pram or with even minor physical disabilities.
The result is people walking in the street instead, which can be witnessed at any time.
As the area becomes filled with more residents and businesses, these basic walking compliance fixes must be given priority to ensure that the homes and businesses here are accessible to all Aucklanders.
I am requesting that ATCOP compliant footpaths be provided on both sides of the street.
5\6\7: Vernon\Centre\Adelaide Street - Footpath widths, gradients, crossfalls and visibility around driveways
Vernon Compliance: CAS-945412-G8Y7N2
Centre: CAS-945413-B0F3M7
Adelaide: CAS-945414-M7F3N9
[street name] Street does provide sufficient, safe access for all users. Improper Footpath widths, gradients, crossfalls and visibility around driveways create an environment that is challenging for a fit adult, and impossible to navigate in a wheelchair, with a pram or with even minor physical disabilities.
The specific defects are clear when the street is compared with the (minimum) standards set out in ATCOP and NZTAPPG, and are highlighted below.
Some samples of the issues are provided in the attached images.
Footpath Widths (NZTAPPG 14.2.2, ATCOP 12.4) Passing Places (NZTAPPG 14.2.3) “Where footpaths have not been provided to a suitable standard in the past, RCAs should develop works programmes to bring them up to a suitable standard.”
“Where through route width is constrained to less than 1.5 metres wide, passing places should be provided”
Gradient & Crossfall (NZTAPPG 14.4, ATCOP 12.5, 12.6) “Some crossfall is required for drainage, but excessive crossfall in the through route requires people using wheelchairs and walking frames to use extra energy to resist the sideways forces. As the crossfall is invariably towards the road where footpaths are in the road reserve, anyone losing their balance is directed towards motorised traffic”
Driveways (NZTAPPG 14.11)
“Driveways should have a level landing at the top, and be at least 1.2 m wide across the through path. The crossfall should be less than two percent, with the gradient differing from the adjacent through path by less than two percent.”
I seek for this street to become compliant with at least the minimum standards set out in ATCOP - as the area becomes filled with more residents and businesses, these basic walking compliance fixes must be given priority to ensure that the homes and businesses here are accessible to all Aucklanders. Safe pedestrian facilities must be provided for Auckland Transport to stake any claim towards achieving Vision Zero.
Submission Images: Vernon Street
Submission Images: Centre Street
Submission Images: Adelaide Street
8: Cook Street footpath renewal
CAS-945415-K0K1Z7
The footpaths on Cook Street (Between Morton and Sale) are in dire need of maintenance. A new pedestrian crossing is being installed at Sam Wrigley/Morton Street and an improved pedestrian connection to Victoria Park provided along Union Street - this will improve connectivity in the area, but leads people to some very rough and poorly maintained footpaths.
